Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 pseudovirus by BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited human sera

 Alexander Muik, Ann-Kathrin Wallisch, Bianca Sänger, Kena A. Swanson, Julia Mühl, Wei Chen, Hui Cai, Ritu Sarkar, Özlem Türeci, Philip R. Dormitzer, Ugur Sahin

doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.18.426984

This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?].

PDF: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.18.426984v1.full.pdf

Abstract

Recently, a new SARS-CoV-2 lineage called B.1.1.7 has emerged in the United Kingdom that was reported to spread more efficiently than other strains. This variant has an unusually large number of mutations with 10 amino acid changes in the spike protein, raising concerns that its recognition by neutralizing antibodies may be affected. Here, we investigated SARS-CoV-2-S pseudoviruses bearing either the Wuhan reference strain or the B.1.1.7 lineage spike protein with sera of 16 participants in a previously reported trial with the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2. The immune sera had equivalent neutralizing titers to both variants. These data, together with the combined immunity involving humoral and cellular effectors induced by this vaccine, make it unlikely that the B.1.1.7 lineage will escape BNT162b2-mediated protection.

Competing Interest Statement

U.S. and O.T. are management board members and employees at BioNTech SE. A.M., A.W., J.M. and B.S. are employees at BioNTech SE. U.S., O.T. and A.M. are inventors on patents and patent applications related to RNA technology and COVID-19 vaccine. U.S., O.T., A.M., J.M. and B.S. have securities from BioNTech SE; K.A.S., W.C., H.C., R.S. and P.R.D. are employees at Pfizer and may have securities from Pfizer.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.18.426984v1